by David Assmann,
Senior Administrator
San Francisco Recycling Program

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates, more than one-quarter of all food produced for human consumption is thrown out as solid waste. In San Francisco, we throw away more than 650,000 pounds of food a day--much of which is still edible.  Yet while 27% of the food delivered to San Francisco ends up in the landfill, 90,000 people in San Francisco are at risk of going hungry each month.

With the help of community groups and the food industry, however, much of this wasted food can be used to help end hunger in San Francisco. Whether it’s a few servings of prepared dishes or a large volume of surplus food--Food Runners and the San Francisco Food Bank can redistribute edible food to those in need. Both organizations collect food from the community and distribute it to over 300 agencies in San Francisco. These agencies include soup kitchens, food pantries, homeless shelters, community centers, AIDS service providers, senior centers and after school programs.

Donors of food are protected from liability by "The Good Samaritan Law," passed in California in 1988. This law protects food businesses that donate surplus food to non-profit organizations.

Food Runners (929-1866) collects prepared and perishable food from restaurants, caterers, hotels and businesses and immediately delivers this food to a shelter or food assistance program. Food Runners offers seven day a week pick-up service between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.

The San Francisco Food Bank (957-1076) collects perishable fresh produce and bread as well as packaged food from markets, processors, community groups, congregations, farmers and individuals. The food is stored at the Food Bank’s warehouse where agencies visit weekly to select fresh produce and packaged food for meal programs and pantries. The Food Bank offers pick-up service between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. weekdays. Small quantities of packaged food can be dropped off at the San Francisco Food Bank warehouse at 333 Illinois St. (weekdays - 8:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.).

Leftover food that is not edible, along with non-edible trimmings such as peelings, etc., is also a resource that can be recycled through a process called composting. Carrot peels, coffee grounds and yard clippings can become a usable soil amendment through composting. And composting is not just for residents with yards.   An attractive earthworm box can easily fit under a table, in your kitchen or on your balcony.

A 2-by-2 foot worm bin can take care of all the fruit and vegetable food scraps from a two person household. The compost you generate can be used for house plants, placed around street trees or be given to friends with plants or gardens.
If you have a yard and a place for a compost bin, all you need to do is place compostable materials (such as sawdust, lawn clippings, small twigs and branches, and food wastes such as leftovers from salad preparations, egg shells, vegetable peels, and coffee grounds) in the bin and within a few months, you'll get a crumbly, brown, sweet-smelling material that can be used as a soil amendment for your garden and container plants.

By making your own compost, you can spend less or no money on fertilizers. Compost increases soil fertility, making your plants healthier. In times of drought, compost also helps retain soil moisture, lowering your watering needs.

So how do you start composting? You may wish to start by attending a free workshop. The San Francisco Recycling Program sponsors free workshops on composting, conducted by the San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners (SLUG). In July, you have a choice of three Saturday morning workshops (July 11, 18 or 25) from 10 am to 12 noon at SLUG's Garden for the Environment.  The Garden for the Environment is located at 7th and Lawton in the Sunset District and has a number of composting systems on display. The July 11th workshop also focuses on container gardening.

If you already know you want to start composting and you’re looking for a high-quality, low cost compost bin, the San Francisco Recycling Program is offering the Earth Machine to San Francisco residents at a 79 percent savings. For $19.50, you can purchase a $90 compost bin at any Cole Hardware store.

For more information on compost bins, to register for any of the free workshops, or to receive a set of free brochures on composting, including Basic Composting, Worm Composting & Other Methods, and Compost Bins--Sources & Designs, call SLUG at 285-7585. 

Five Years Ago in the Grapevine

JULY 1993
*A new Geneva Towers Day Camp featured an assortment of activities, including sports, arts and crafts, contests, Campfire programs, awareness programs, parent/child programs and a free lunch hour.

*S.F. Recreation and Park Department sponsored a Latchkey Program at Visitacion Valley Elementary School (VVES).

*Parishioners at Church of the Visitacion joined a federation of 35 church communities throughout the City through the San Francisco Organizing Project.

*Members of the Totally Cool Vine staff visited the remains of Sutro Baths on a field trip.

*Filipino and Samoan cultural assemblies celebrated the Filipino Independence Day and Pacific Islander heritage on June 10 at VVES.

*More than two dozen youth gathered with brushes in hand at the decorative plaza of St. Mary's Cathedral June 24 to paint the names and ages of more than 8,000 children killed violently in homicides during the previous decade. 

Historic Proportions

Match clues to answers.

1971

1. Popular weekly magazine is no more on Oct. 30.
2. Basketball's Most Valuable Player.
3. And the championship team he played for.
4. Now a regular happening around schools.
5. On Mar. 26, a new country is established.
6. Development of this made math easier.
7. They won the National League West.
8. But they won the World Series.
9. On Jan., Boy da way Glen Milla played...
10. People started sleeping on these.
11. He started solving crimes in a dirty trenchcoat.
12. On Jan. 2, no more TV advertising for these.
13. Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
14. They were singing about One Bad Apple.
15. On Sept. 21, yet again, this team is no more.
16. Best New Artist at the Grammys.
17. Time's Man of the Year.
18. Secret government documents excerpted in the press.

A. Carly Simon
B. Colombo
C. San Francisco Giants
D. Water beds
E. All in the Family
F. Pittsburgh Pirates
G. Bussing
H. Cigarettes
I. Washington Senators
J. Milwaukee Bucks
K. Richard Nixon
L. Bangladesh
M. Patton
N. Pentagon Papers
O. Microprocessor
P. Osmond Brothers
Q. Look
R. Lew Alcindor

Answers: 1-Q, 2-R, 3-J, 4-G, 5-L, 6-O, 7-C, 8-F, 9-E, 10-D 11-B, 12-H, 13-M, 14-P, 15-I, 16-A, 17-K, 18-N. 

Sez Who?

Match quotes with speakers.

1. "If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door."
2. "You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred."
3. "If you wish to forget anything on the spot, make a note that this thing is to be remembered."
4. "Common sense is genius dressed in its working clothes."
5. "The point of living, and of being an optimist, is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to come."
6. "Nothing in fine print is ever good news."
7. "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city."
8. "A radical is a man with both feet planted firmly in the air."
9. "The best is the enemy of the good."

A. Edgar Allan Poe
B. Andy Rooney
C. Franklin D. Roosevelt
D. Milton Berle
E. Voltaire
F. Ralph Waldo Emerson
G. Peter Ustinov
H. Woody Allen
I. George Burns

Answers: 1-D, 2-H, 3-A, 4-F, 5-G, 6-B, 7-I, 8-C, 9-E